As everyone prepares to surge into a new decade, Cloud Cult is diving back into its past one last time: The Minneapolis band has just reissued its first two albums, 2003's They Live on the Sun and 2004's Aureora Borealis. The two albums have been remastered, too, with bonus tracks thrown in for good measure.
The songs on this double-disc set were written in 2002 after singer Craig Minowa's 2-year-old son died unexpectedly. But these songs aren't brimming with sorrow: They run the full range of Cloud Cult's sound, from sparse electronic experimentation to frantic, joyful cacophony.
"Man on the Moon," from They Live on the Sun, starts off quietly: Minowa's voice sounds strained and distant, as if he were crooning over a tin can and string from the lunar landscape. But the song gradually builds and explodes into a full-blown rock tapestry, complete with fuzzy guitars, driving rhythms and a chorus of voices singing triumphant gibberish.
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